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Where Did Dublin Get So Many Asian Taxi Drivers

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  • 25-01-2020 2:56pm
    #1
    imme
    Registered Users Posts: 3,200 ✭✭✭


    There was a taxi driver protest in Dublin on Thursday.

    It was to protest at the app FreeNow increasing their share of trips to 15%.

    The independent and mirror newspapers featured photos of the protest.

    The drivers pictured almost exclusively were Asian men.

    Does anyone know where Dublin got so many Asian taxi drivers all of a sudden.

    I don't remember it being a feature of the industry except for very recent years.

    Does Brexit or the 'student visa' scheme have anything to do with this change.


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    #2
    Auguste Comte
    Registered Users Posts: 1,143 ✭✭✭Auguste Comte


    Asia would be my guess.


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    #3
    EmmetSpiceland
    Registered Users Posts: 10,597 ✭✭✭✭EmmetSpiceland


    ed93129ddeb56a3f06b795af82df0d56.jpg

    “It is not blood that makes you Irish but a willingness to be part of the Irish nation” - Thomas Davis



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    #4
    biko
    Registered Users Posts: 81,223 ✭✭✭✭biko


    By "Asian" do you mean "Pakistani"?


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    #5
    PCeeeee
    Registered Users Posts: 1,468 ✭✭✭PCeeeee


    Auguste Comte wrote: »
    Asia would be my guess.

    Definitely Asia.


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    #6
    Yurt2
    Registered Users Posts: 9,381 ✭✭✭Yurt2


    I've been in several cabs with South Asian taxi drivers where the face didn't match the license picture and quite frankly they weren't fit to pilot a milk float.

    I'm not sure for a period of time was it possible to procure a taxi licence without having your visa paperwork in order so to speak. South Asians got their hooks into the trade in any case.


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    #7
    suicide_circus
    Registered Users Posts: 19,802 ✭✭✭✭suicide_circus


    anecdotally from my experience as a frequent taxi user in dublin there has been a big upsurge in Pakistani taxi drivers and a decline in Nigerian taxi drivers


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    #8
    biko
    Registered Users Posts: 81,223 ✭✭✭✭biko


    It's not only in the pale.
    I use taxis a lot and there are definitely many Pakistani now whereas a year or two ago there were almost none.


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    #9
    tdf7187
    Registered Users Posts: 1,597 ✭✭✭tdf7187


    I far prefer Asian taxi drivers to our native chip-on-shoulder Dubs. Their taxis are usually modern and clean and they conduct themselves with professionalism and dignity. I also far prefer them to taxi drivers from a certain other country, but to mention the name of that country would risk accusations of racism. Go figure!


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    #10
    Yurt2
    Registered Users Posts: 9,381 ✭✭✭Yurt2


    biko wrote: »
    It's not only in the pale.
    I use taxis a lot and there are definitely many Pakistani now whereas a year or two ago there were almost none.

    The immigration crackdowns of recent years in the UK have almost certainly led to many hopping over the water to Ireland.


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    #11
    Qrt
    Registered Users Posts: 1,635 ✭✭✭Qrt


    tdf7187 wrote: »
    I far prefer Asian taxi drivers to our native chip-on-shoulder Dubs. Their taxis are usually modern and clean and they conduct themselves with professionalism and dignity. I also far prefer them to taxi drivers from a certain other country, but to mention the name of that country would risk accusations of racism. Go figure!

    Don’t forget their fondness for the Prius! Nothing like a gentle ride home when you’re on the verge of heaving up on the leathers.


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    #12
    suicide_circus
    Registered Users Posts: 19,802 ✭✭✭✭suicide_circus


    Yurt! wrote: »
    and quite frankly they weren't fit to pilot a milk float
    i had to call the taxi company my work has an account with to make sure the pakistani gent who once brought me to work never did a job for us again. the man could not drive and it was an automatic. it was like being in a car with someone on their second driving lesson.


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    #13
    Pintman Paddy Losty
    Registered Users Posts: 1,913 ✭✭✭Pintman Paddy Losty


    Used to be all Nigerians but it's definitely mostly Pakistanis now. I presume the Nigerians ended up getting citizenship and other jobs or else just went on the dole.


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    #14
    Yurt2
    Registered Users Posts: 9,381 ✭✭✭Yurt2


    tdf7187 wrote: »
    I far prefer Asian taxi drivers to our native chip-on-shoulder Dubs. Their taxis are usually modern and clean and they conduct themselves with professionalism and dignity. I also far prefer them to taxi drivers from a certain other country, but to mention the name of that country would risk accusations of racism. Go figure!

    Taxi drivers are usually not exactly Rhodes Scholar candidates no matter what country you're in. Occasionally you get the odd-one with an interesting background /story.


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    #15
    Shefwedfan
    Closed Accounts Posts: 18,958 ✭✭✭✭Shefwedfan


    Anyone is better to the Dub taxi driver to be honest, some of the cars look like a cow has lived in them.....

    Remember the government asked them years ago to buy a decent car and they all went nuts....


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    #16
    Pauliedragon
    Registered Users Posts: 2,534 ✭✭✭Pauliedragon


    Does it really matter where they're from as long as they get you to where you're going.


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    #17
    suicide_circus
    Registered Users Posts: 19,802 ✭✭✭✭suicide_circus


    Pauliedragon wrote: »
    Does it really matter where they're from as long as they get you to where you're going.

    no it doesn't. its just an interesting demographic shift in the trade which people are entitled to discuss.


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    #18
    mfceiling
    Registered Users Posts: 12,789 ✭✭✭✭mfceiling


    Yurt! wrote: »
    I've been in several cabs with South Asian taxi drivers where the face didn't match the license picture and quite frankly they weren't fit to pilot a milk float.

    I'm not sure for a period of time was it possible to procure a taxi licence without having your visa paperwork in order so to speak. South Asians got their hooks into the trade in any case.

    I got into a taxi in Ranelagh. Young enough Asian lad driving it. "Terenure please".....blank stare. Repeated myself twice and nothing. I wanted to hop out and get another one but herself wanted to be out of the cold so hand signals from me got him there.
    Ranelagh, Rathmines, Rathgar, Terenure...that's it.
    Surely that lad didn't pass any sort of a test?


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    #19
    Pintman Paddy Losty
    Registered Users Posts: 1,913 ✭✭✭Pintman Paddy Losty


    Pauliedragon wrote: »
    Does it really matter where they're from as long as they get you to where you're going.

    Yeah it does.

    No one wants to be in a car that stinks of BO or has some Christian preacher CD on the player.


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    #20
    tdf7187
    Registered Users Posts: 1,597 ✭✭✭tdf7187


    Qrt wrote: »
    Don’t forget their fondness for the Prius! Nothing like a gentle ride home when you’re on the verge of heaving up on the leathers.

    Indeed. Infinitely superior to a clapped out 1996 Carina.


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    #21
    Bobblehats
    Registered Users Posts: 4,707 ✭✭✭Bobblehats


    Taxistan


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    #22
    arybvtcw0eolkf
    Closed Accounts Posts: 24,878 ✭✭✭✭arybvtcw0eolkf


    tdf7187 wrote: »
    I far prefer Asian taxi drivers to our native chip-on-shoulder Dubs. Their taxis are usually modern and clean and they conduct themselves with professionalism and dignity. I also far prefer them to taxi drivers from a certain other country, but to mention the name of that country would risk accusations of racism. Go figure!

    I hate that spicy BO smell off them, must be their diets but they're rotten. Other than that I couldn't care where someone is from or the color of their skin.


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    #23
    Pauliedragon
    Registered Users Posts: 2,534 ✭✭✭Pauliedragon


    Pintman Paddy Losty wrote: »
    Yeah it does.

    No one wants to be in a car that stinks of BO or has some Christian preacher CD on the player.

    The taxi company I use have drivers who all stink of fags and booze. They don't even ask when they light up. I just deal with it. And they're all Irish.


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    #24
    suicide_circus
    Registered Users Posts: 19,802 ✭✭✭✭suicide_circus


    Pauliedragon wrote: »
    The taxi company I use have drivers who all stink of fags and booze. They don't even ask when they light up. I just deal with it. And they're all Irish.
    i wouldnt stay in a cab with a driver reeking of drink and smoking a fag


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    #25
    biko
    Registered Users Posts: 81,223 ✭✭✭✭biko


    The Toadman wrote: »
    Sue me.
    Are you Sue?


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    #26
    suicide_circus
    Registered Users Posts: 19,802 ✭✭✭✭suicide_circus


    Alex Disgusting Planetarium wrote: »
    I hate that spicy BO smell off them

    i cant believe you went there


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    #27
    Pauliedragon
    Registered Users Posts: 2,534 ✭✭✭Pauliedragon


    suicide_circus wrote: »
    i wouldnt stay in a cab with a driver reeking of drink and smoking a fag
    Neither do I. I'm only making the point that Irish cab drivers can be just as bad as Asian drivers.
    I walk out of the cab the second I'm not happy with the driver whether he's Asian or Irish.


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    #28
    Pintman Paddy Losty
    Registered Users Posts: 1,913 ✭✭✭Pintman Paddy Losty


    Pauliedragon wrote: »
    The taxi company I use have drivers who all stink of fags and booze. They don't even ask when they light up. I just deal with it. And they're all Irish.

    This is lies


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    #29
    imme
    Registered Users Posts: 3,200 ✭✭✭imme


    biko wrote: »
    By "Asian" do you mean "Pakistani"?

    You can put words in my mouth on Mondays and Tuesdays but never on a Saturday.

    I said Asian because that's what I meant.;)


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    #30
    biko
    Registered Users Posts: 81,223 ✭✭✭✭biko


    With Brexit they now turn their attention to Ireland instead

    https://www.independent.ie/breaking-news/irish-news/dozens-to-be-deported-after-using-fake-papers-to-get-taxi-licences-37887231.html
    Investigations into 134 foreign taxi drivers has so far resulted in a group of 55 of them having their residency status revoked, with 25 of the same group now subject to deportation.


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    #31
    imme
    Registered Users Posts: 3,200 ✭✭✭imme


    tdf7187 wrote: »
    I far prefer Asian taxi drivers to our native chip-on-shoulder Dubs. Their taxis are usually modern and clean and they conduct themselves with professionalism and dignity. I also far prefer them to taxi drivers from a certain other country, but to mention the name of that country would risk accusations of racism. Go figure!

    Why answering a different question to the one I asked in the OP?

    I asked where did Dublin get so many Asian taxi drivers all of a sudden.

    Go on have another try.


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